Monday, April 18, 2011

The Gospel this morning tells us that Jesus was invited to dinner at the home of Lazarus whom he had just raised from the dead, and his two sisters, Martha and Mary. Martha was preparing the supper, and what was Mary doing? She was sitting at the feet of Jesus and she was rubbing and anointing his feet with perfumed oil, we're told. And it was expensive stuff that she was using. No cheap stuff, it was very expensive. And Judas criticized her for wasting this oil, this money that was used to buy the oil. But Jesus rebuked her and said that she was doing a very loving thing for him.

So, what was Mary doing? She was showing her love for Jesus by sittting at his feet and rubbing and anointing them with oil. And this is a way in which she wanted to show her love for Jesus. So, perhaps her action can prompt us to ask ourselves, How can we show our love for Jesus? What can we do? We can't anoint his feet with perfumed oil, but what can we do to show our love? Well, we can spend some time in prayer with Jesus, talking to him. He would like that. And we can visit him here in church where he stays always with us in the tabernacle. And, above all, when we recieve him in holy communion, we can tell him how much we love him and recieve him with great love and devotion.

So, this morning, when you take holy communion, our whole attention should be focused on Jesus who has come to us and is with us in this wonderful way that Jesus found to come to us in holy communion.

And finally, we need to show our love for Jesus by the way in which we treat one another. That's what Jesus has taught to do. The Gospels tell us how Jesus wants us to love him, especially by showing our love to others. So, when we're kind and concerned and helpful to others, then we are showing Jesus our love by the way in which we treat one another.

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